“Identity is such a crucial affair that one should not rush into it.”
– David Quammen

Being bored at work can lead one into all kinds of mischief but one of the most deadly sort is Facebook quizzes, you can piddle away years of your life with those things!  I know people who believe in those things religiously and will say triumphantly, “Yes!  I knew I was that particular shade of the Personality/Color test!  This explains my bad luck with men,” or “If I were an animal I’d absolutely be a sheep.”  However, if my Facebook quiz results are to be believed, I’m a very contrary person:

“You are fashionable, fabulous and sharp witted.”  Well, I hope so.  “You most resemble Alexander the Great: you are an excellent leader, enjoy power, and are ambitious.”  Er, guilty about the power hungry bit…but that seems to clash with, “You are a natural homebody, you enjoy quiet and don’t like to take the lead.”  Then there was, “You are a sign of happiness in many peoples’ lives and bring hope to the masses,” which is immediately juxtaposed with, “You have no friends.  You get what you want and it doesn’t bother you to deceive others to get it.  People are intrigued by you but don’t trust you.”  Ouch!  “You are spunky with a dash of sass, but somewhat untouchable.”  That’s a lot nicer sort of intriguing than the You Have No Friends approach!  But…”You have a tendency to suck the life out of people, leaving them a tragic wreck of their former selves.”  Double ouch!  I’m then complimented by the outcome of, “You are very intelligent and always think before you act,” which is a flat out lie as proved by the next diagnosis, “You tend to have a temper and say things you wish you could take back,” which is unfortunately true.  “You’re a major klutz!”  Duh.

Of course, I’m also in the midst of quite another identity crisis: this is my last week of me having my name!  Which means that not only will my driver’s license (which took months to get an American one!), social security, passport, etc. change…but I have to figure out a new signature!  I’ve had mine for years, how on earth does one go about making a new one?  My future last name is all very nice, but it’s not my original last name so it still feel a bit uncomfortable when I try out my new one by writing it.  I’m sure I’ll adapt.  My mother hyphenated her last name (making her sound very English Country Gentry) but I don’t have that option because all the syllables together would just sound ridiculous.  I’m hyphenating my middle and maiden names (which incidental will create my mother’s aforementioned fabulous one) so I’ll keep them all, but it’s still seems bizarre to be tacking another onto the end of it. 

But actually pretty neat too!